Abstract
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death globally. Early atherosclerotic changes can begin to occur early in life and though adolescence. The prevalence of modifiable CVD risk factors, namely, smoking, poor diet quality, excessive alcohol intake, physical inactivity, and overweight and obesity can exacerbate the early onset of atherosclerosis. There is a need to improve modifiable risk factors during adolescence to prevent progression to CVD in later life. Electronic health (eHealth) behaviour change interventions are a potential solution for adolescents to improve CVD risk factors, given adolescents are digital frontrunners and digital technology is wide-reaching. The process of co-creating eHealth behaviour change interventions with adolescents is a promising strategy to improve intervention effectiveness and engagement. Additionally, effective youth advocacy is an emerging strategy for CVD prevention in adolescents. This narrative review evaluates published eHealth behaviour change interventions targeting cardiovascular disease risk factors in adolescents, which utilize a co-creation process, describe the emerging role of advocacy in CVD prevention for adolescents and provide recommendations for future interventions.
Highlights
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the most significant public health challenges facing today’s adolescents, aged 10–24 years [1,2]
Adolescents often become involved pro-actively due to personal interest and, in a digital era, adolescents can potentially be engaged using social media, through targeted advertising, and via online groups. This narrative review will examine co-creation and youth advocacy as strategies to increase engagement with and effectiveness of Electronic health (eHealth) interventions to improve CVD risk factors in adolescents. This is not intended to be an exhaustive compilation of every individual study, a descriptive narrative review conceptualizing both co-creation and eHealth in the context of CVD prevention for adolescents using contemporary examples
Co-creation occurred through three phases: phase one included exploring the level of adolescents’ awareness of technology for health, phase two explored the use of sensors and wearable devices for health management, and phase three was focusing on the co-creation of a wearable device suitable for adolescents
Summary
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the most significant public health challenges facing today’s adolescents, aged 10–24 years [1,2]. Adolescents often become involved pro-actively due to personal interest and, in a digital era, adolescents can potentially be engaged using social media, through targeted advertising, and via online groups. This narrative review will examine co-creation and youth advocacy as strategies to increase engagement with and effectiveness of eHealth interventions to improve CVD risk factors in adolescents. This is not intended to be an exhaustive compilation of every individual study, a descriptive narrative review conceptualizing both co-creation and eHealth in the context of CVD prevention for adolescents using contemporary examples
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